Translation Of Popular Science English Based On Wilson’s Translation Model

Popular science readings refer to the readings that popularize the scientificknowledge including natural science and social science, advocate the scientific thoughts,promote the scientific spirit, disseminate the scientific methods and spread the applicationof science and technology in ways that are more understandable and acceptable to thepublic. They are indispensible in the improvement of the public’s scientific literacy. Thecreation and the theoretical research of popular science readings are both valued in mostcountries around the world. Due to the late start, the quality and the popularization ofpopular science readings in China lag behind. Therefore, it’s significant to importsplendid popular science readings to enhance the level of popular science in China. Andfor a long time, our focus should be placed on the translation and compilation of popularscience readings. English is the primary language for academic communication in theworld. Hence, the translation of English Popular Science (EPS) readings should bevalued.In the past decades, scholars have paid increasing attention to the research of EPStranslation. The methods and principles of EPS translation, the accuracy of target text inthe EPS translation and the requirements for the translators, etc. are more and morestudied. However, the research mainly focuses on some detailed problems such asannotations, polysemies and lexical cohesion, etc. Although some scholars have studiedthe EPS translation in the light of existing translation theories, few studies are conductedon the translation theories in terms of the characteristics of EPS. Hence, more in-depthresearch is necessary in this respect.For this reason, the thesis attempts to study the translation of EPS texts based onWilson’s translation model in order to provide some practical help to EPS translators．Thestudy tries to probe into the following2questions:1). How do the translators deal withthe individual mapping processes of the main components in the EPS translation?2). Howdo the multiple mapping processes of the main components interact with each other?In the light of the Wilson’s theory and the characteristics of popular science, themain principle is presented: on the basis of ensuring the mapping of the primarycomponents, as many of the components as possible do match between the two languages. In this line, EPS translation process is revealed through the examples from popularscience readings, prior studies and the Internet. The mappings of the components of EPStranslation, including linguistic meaning, linguistic structure, connotation and context, andtheir interaction with each other are discussed and some suggestions to the translators areproposed from the analysis of the examples: in the mapping of linguistic meaning, thetranslators should manifest the scientific message in the linguistic meaning of the sourcetexts; in the mapping of linguistic structures, the translators are suggested to fully considerthe language habit in both the source and target texts; in the mapping of connotation, thetranslators should pay attention to the connotation in the linguistic units of source textscaused by the cultural background of the source language; and in the mapping of context,the translators are provided a method to choose among different target texts.To sum up, this research may provide a new perspective for EPS translation practice:Based on the translation theory and the characteristics of popular science, it’s significantto analyze the four main components---linguistic meaning, linguistic structure,connotation and context---in EPS translation. In the translation process, the primarycomponent is supposed to be mapped preferentially and the other components should bemapped as many as possible. However, to extend the study of the thesis to most situationsof EPS translation, a more thorough research is needed.